Bettendorf, William Peter b. July 1, 1857 d. June 3, 1910Inventor, Businessman. As president and co-founder of Bettendorf Axle Company, he invented the Bettendorf Truck, which revolutionized the railroad industry. Before that time, railroad trucks had been made from many smaller pieces. The Bettendorf Truck was cast from one piece of steel. The city of Bettendorf, Iowa is named for him and his brother, Joseph. (Bio by: Dustin Oliver)Oakdale Memorial Gardens, Davenport, Scott County, Iowa, USAPlot: Section 13GPS coordinates: 41.5452995, -90.5480270 (hddd.dddd)

Bosse, Henry Peter b. November 3, 1844 d. December 14, 1903Photographer. As a draughtsman for the United States Army Corps of Engineers, he took many photographs of the Mississippi River. These photos were discovered in 1990, and a collection was sold by Sotheby's for $60,000. In Sotheby's 1995 photographic catalogue, the discovery of his work was proclaimed the most important discovery of 1990. His photos are mostly oval shaped and blue (cyanotype). He is considered by many to be one of the late nineteenth century's greatest photographers. He was born...[Read More] (Bio by: Dustin Oliver)Oakdale Memorial Gardens, Davenport, Scott County, Iowa, USA

Cook, John Parsons b. August 31, 1817 d. April 17, 1872US Congresman. A pioneer settler of Davenport, Iowa, he arrived in the area with his father in 1836. He studied law and became a lawyer, practicing in Tipton, Iowa. His political career began with a three year term on the Iowa Territorial Council from 1842 to 1845 and a three year term in the Iowa Senate from 1848 to 1851, after which time he returned to Davenport. He was elected as a member of the Whig Party to the Thirty-Third United States Congress in 1852, serving one two year term before...[Read More] (Bio by: Dustin Oliver)Oakdale Memorial Gardens, Davenport, Scott County, Iowa, USA

Cram, George Henry b. January 22, 1838 d. August 5, 1872Civil War Union Brevet Brigadier General. A merchant from Pennsylvania, he enlisted in the 9th Kentucky Infantry at the outset of the Civil War. He was made a captain of Company H of that regiment, and was wounded at the Battle of Shiloh. In April, 1862, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and fought at the Battle of Perryville. By December of that year, he had command of the 9th Kentucky and led the regiment at the Battle of Stones River, where he was again wounded. He was promoted to...[Read More] (Bio by: Dustin Oliver)Oakdale Memorial Gardens, Davenport, Scott County, Iowa, USAPlot: Section 2, Lot 123 (Dodge family)

Dillon, John Forrest b. December 25, 1831 d. May 5, 1914Jurist. He authored a judicial treatise that is now referred to as "Dillon's Law." It is the theory that municipal governments have no powers other than those expressly given them by the state government. He was a member of the Iowa Supreme Court from January 1, 1864, until he resigned December 31, 1869. For two years of this period he was Chief Justice. In 1870 he became the first judge of the Eighth Circuit, US Circuit Court of Appeals. He resigned in 1879 to become Professor of Law Columbia...[Read More] (Bio by: Dustin Oliver)Oakdale Memorial Gardens, Davenport, Scott County, Iowa, USAPlot: Section 1, Lot 90GPS coordinates: 41.5470657, -90.5494156 (hddd.dddd)

Leake, Joseph Bloomfield b. April 1, 1828 d. June 1, 1918Civil War Union Brevet Brigadier General. Born in Deerfield, New Jersey, he was admitted to the bar in 1850 and opened a law practice in Davenport, Iowa. In 1862, he was elected as a State Senator but took leave from office to serve in the Union Army when appointed Lieutenant Colonel in command of the 20th Iowa Infantry. He led the 20th Iowa in the Battle of Prairie Grove, at Morganza, Vicksburg, and in the Mobile campaign. At Bayou Fordoche, he was taken prisoner and remained in confinement...[Read More] (Bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith)Oakdale Memorial Gardens, Davenport, Scott County, Iowa, USAPlot: Section 1, Lot 120GPS coordinates: 41.5464439, -90.5496750 (hddd.dddd)

McCullough, John Fremont 'Grandpa' b. May 10, 1871 d. February 9, 1963Entrepreneur. After attending college in Oswego, New York, he moved to Davenport, Iowa in 1911, then went into the dairy business in nearby Green River, Illinois. In 1938, he and his son Bradley developed a formula for soft-serve ice cream. They tested their new product at the ice cream retail shop of one of their customers, Sheb Noble on August 4, 1938. They sold over 1,600 servings for ten cents each in just two hours. The McCulloughs spent the next two years modifying a soft serve freezer to...[Read More] (Bio by: Dustin Oliver)Cause of death: Cerebral thrombosisOakdale Memorial Gardens, Davenport, Scott County, Iowa, USAPlot: Section 27, Lot 70, SW 1/4GPS coordinates: 41.5452652, -90.5458374 (hddd.dddd)

Price, Hiram b. January 10, 1814 d. May 30, 1901US Congressman. A prominent banker in Iowa in the days before the Civil War, upon that conflict's outbreak he served in the war's early years as Iowa's Paymaster General. He was elected twice to represent Iowa's 2nd Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives, serving first from March 4, 1863 to March 4, 1869, then serving from March 4, 1877 to March 3, 1881. He declined to run for re-election, accepting the appointment of Chief Clerk in the Indian Affairs Office. He...[Read More] (Bio by: Russ Dodge)Oakdale Memorial Gardens, Davenport, Scott County, Iowa, USAPlot: Section 1, Lot 34GPS coordinates: 41.5470695, -90.5494919 (hddd.dddd)

Sanders, Addison Hiatt b. September 13, 1823 d. November 7, 1912Civil War Union Brevet Brigadier General. A newspaper printer from Cincinnati, Ohio, he moved to Davenport, Iowa in 1856, where he became the editor of his brother Alfred’s newspaper, the Daily Gazette. Atthe beginning of the Civil War, he was commissioned as military aide to Iowa Governor Samuel Kirkwood, and then made commissioner of Camp McClellan in East Davenport. In 1862, he declined the command of the 16th Iowa Infantry, and was instead made lieutenant colonel of the regiment. He...[Read More] (Bio by: Dustin Oliver)Oakdale Memorial Gardens, Davenport, Scott County, Iowa, USAPlot: Section 1, Lot 27GPS coordinates: 41.5467567, -90.5498657 (hddd.dddd)

Sudlow, Phebe W. b. July 11, 1831 d. June 8, 1922Educator. She was the first female public school principal in the United States, the first female school superintendant in the United States, the first female president of the Iowa School Teachers' Association, and the first female professor at the University of Iowa. She accomplished all of this despite her lack of official academic credits. She was awarded an honorary Master of Arts degree by Grinnell College in 1878, the only college degree she held. She also assisted in the funding and...[Read More] (Bio by: Dustin Oliver)Oakdale Memorial Gardens, Davenport, Scott County, Iowa, USA

Thanet, Octave b. 1850 d. 1934Author. She was one of the most well-known popular magazine contributors of the 1890's. She sold her first story to Lippincott's magazine in 1878, and was published frequently until 1913. At the height of her popularity, from 1896 to 1900, she published fifty short stories and five books. She also wrote the book "Man of the Hour," which made it to number four on the best seller list in 1905. Her real name was Alice French. (Bio by: Dustin Oliver)Oakdale Memorial Gardens, Davenport, Scott County, Iowa, USA

Thorington, James b. May 7, 1816 d. June 13, 1887US Congressman and Foreign Diplomat. He was born in 1816 (in Alabama by some accounts, or Wilmington, North Carolina by others), and moved with his family to Saint Louis, Missouri 1833. In 1839, the family moved again, this time to Davenport, Iowa, where James was a school teacher for two years, and his father was a lawyer and the second mayor of Davenport. In the early 1840's he served as Justice of the Peace for Scott County, Iowa, was elected, as a member of the Whig party, mayor of...[Read More] (Bio by: Dustin Oliver)Oakdale Memorial Gardens, Davenport, Scott County, Iowa, USAPlot: Section 1GPS coordinates: 41.5469894, -90.5489960 (hddd.dddd)

Vale, John b. August 9, 1835 d. February 4, 1909Civil War Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient. Born in London, England, he was a farmer in Rochester, Minnesota, when he enlisted in the Union Army at the start of the Civil War. Assigned to picket duty, he served as a Private in Company H, 2nd Minnesota Volunteer Infantry. On February 15, 1863, he was a member of a detachment in a wagon train when 125 Confederate Cavalry attacked them near Nolensville, Tennessee. Private Vale together with his comrades moved to a log building for cover and...[Read More] (Bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith)Oakdale Memorial Gardens, Davenport, Scott County, Iowa, USAPlot: Section 7, Lot 62GPS coordinates: 41.5471344, -90.5490723 (hddd.dddd)